Barbed wire across Porcupine Hills trail has OHV users warning others

A group of dirt bikers was faced with a terrifying experience over the weekend when someone strung barbed wire across a trail in the Porcupine Hills.

“It just about killed our friend,” OHV user Kristoffer Beer said.

It was the first weekend of the season for the group of seven, who’ve been riding in the area since they were kids.

Jordan Sinnott was lead rider and was not prepared for what they encountered.

“All of a sudden, I thought I saw a barbed wire fence and thought I was going into a fence so I ducked, put my head to my seat and somehow managed to get underneath the one wire that was there.”

Beer was right behind him and managed to stop just in time.

“Once that happened, we walked down the trail and we found more strung across the trail like that one, in areas you can’t see it, where there’s shade,” he said.

READ MORE: Alberta to expand Castle area parks, phase out off-highway vehicles 

Sinnott was lucky to walk away with a few scrapes and bruises and a banged-up bike.

He believes the barbed wire was put there to send a message.

“It wasn’t just hand tied and loosely put in the trees,” Sinnott said. “Someone actually had pliers and tightened it up and it was across the trail… It was intentionally put there to hurt a biker.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It wasn't just hand tied and loosely put in the trees," Sinnott said. "Someone actually had pliers and tightened it up and it was across the trail… It was intentionally put there to hurt a biker."

Pincher Creek RCMP are currently investigating.

Jeff Harker was also there that day and says things could have been much worse.

“There’s kids that use these trails,” he said. “Where the barbed wire was placed, about four feet high is neck-high to a kid and I don’t want to see anyone getting hurt.”

READ MORE: Off-highway vehicle enthusiasts fight proposed ban in new Alberta parks 

Luckily no one was seriously injured and the group was able to make the approximately 30-kilometre ride back to their vehicles.

“It’s not usually something that you look for when your riding and it’s always going to be in the back of all our minds.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's not usually something that you look for when your riding and it's always going to be in the back of all our minds.

“Going around a corner, there might be barbed wire and it will peel your head off,” Beer said.

They want to know why anyone would do this, but it’s not enough to keep them off the trails.

“I don’t think barbed wire will stop us. We’ll just be a little more cautious and try to keep everyone informed that this is happening.”